John de Mollesley

John de Mollesley, also recorded as de Moseley or Mosley, ( – ) was a 15th-century English landowner, squire, and civic official in Staffordshire. He is best known as the builder and first known incumbent of Stow Heath Manor House (now the Greyhound and Punchbowl Inn), one of the oldest surviving timber-framed structures in the Black Country.

Early life and family Mollesley was born around 1413 in Staffordshire (his family held land in Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton), and his father was also named John de Mollesley, while his mother was Elizabeth de Clinton. In 1438, he married the daughter and sole heiress of Edwin de Bilston, (The name of John de Mollesley's wife is only listed in contemporary documents as "the eldest daughter and sole heiress of Edwin de Bilston", and "the heiress of Bilston".) He then moved to Bilston during the same year.

Stow Heath Manor House Around 1438, (During an 1820 renovation of one of the upper bedrooms, workers peeled back wallpaper or plasterwork and found the following inscription: de Mollesley commissioned the construction of a three-block manor house to serve as the capital seat for the Manor of Stowheath in Bilston.) He constructed the building using green oak timber clear-cut directly from the estate, and was still constructing the west wing in around 1450. He was the incumbent by 1460, Court rolls from 1458 then record de Mollesley as the primary signatory on a legal delegation surrendering parcels of agricultural land in Windmill Field to Sir Thomas de Erdington.

Around , de Mollesley ceded the daily management of the Bilston estate to his eldest son, John. He subsequently retired to his family's primary ancestral seat in Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton.

Death John de Mollesley died in at Bushbury. His son John officially succeeded him as the head of the family holdings.